Chocolate pecan bundt cake
There are three reasons I love bundt cakes:
- They’re easy.
- They’re pretty.
- They’re cake. Duh.
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This chocolate pecan bundt cake is no exception. It is super easy, looks really pretty…and it’s cake.
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A really, really yummy cake, in fact.
I layered the cake batter and filling a bit differently than suggested in the recipe so the chocolate pecan filling isn’t as noticeable as it would normally be. I suggest following the recipe for a more fun-filled cake.
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I topped this chocolate pecan bundt cake with my favorite chocolate glaze and chopped pecans. You can never have too much chocolate. Or too many pecans.
Printable recipe for chocolate pecan bundt cake below.
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- 1 butter-recipe yellow cake mix
- 1 small box instant vanilla pudding
- 1 cup sour cream
- 3 eggs
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup applesauce
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, divided
- 1½ cups chopped pecans, divided
- ¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 3 T butter
- 1 T light corn syrup
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour bundt pan.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine cake mix, pudding, sour cream, eggs, oil and applesauce. Mix on medium speed 5 to 6 minutes.
- Gently spread ⅓ of the batter in pan; sprinkle with ½ of the chocolate chips and ½ cup of pecans. Repeat. Top with remaining ⅓ batter.
- Bake 45 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 to 10 minutes in pan and then invert onto a serving plate. Cool completely.
- Combine ingredients in a microwaveable bowl. Microwave on high for 30 to 45 seconds, stirring every 15 seconds, until completely melted. Do not overcook!
- Spread or pour warm glaze over top of chocolate cake and let drizzle down the sides. Top with remaining ½ cup pecans.
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If you’re into bundt cakes like I am, here are a few other bundt cake recipes you might enjoy.
Note: The photo of the cookie dough-filled chocolate bundt cake (bottom right) does NOT do this cake justice, promise.
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Clockwise from left:
- Decadent chocolate bundt cake
- Chocolate peppermint bundt cake
- Cookie dough-filled chocolate bundt cake
- Glazed lemon poppy seed bundt cake
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“She’s about to pop!” baby shower favors
When it comes to baby showers, I’m not really a theme person. I prefer to simply choose colors and use that in place of a shower theme. For my sister’s baby shower, I went with turquoise (and quickly learned turquoise can be anything from Tiffany blue to green) and strawberry red. We had a dessert buffet, Wishes for Baby Girl notecards (mine was hilarious) and the most adorable “She’s about to pop!” baby shower party favors if I do say so myself.
And I totally say so. All the time.
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I used PicMonkey to create the “She’s about to pop!” graphic and then sized it just right for a scalloped 2″ craft punch I found at Hobby Lobby. I actually scanned the napkin so I could make sure the tag was as close to the right turquoise as possible.
I think the soda pop bottles turned out pretty adorable and they were a hit with the party guests. They were also a hit with my kids who proceeded to spill Strawberry Crush soda on themselves, the kitchen floor and eventually on the newly cleaned carpet in their bedroom.
Note to self: Pass out every last bottle of Strawberry Crush soda to guests even if you have to send the last few home with an entire case.
Wait until you see the diaper cake my friend Molly created. It is the most amazing diaper cake you’ve ever seen. I’ll be writing a post on it as soon as I find the time to take the diaper cake apart and photograph all the lovely creations on it.
Or maybe I’ll leave it intact and use it as my centerpiece until my sis has her baby because that’s how on top of things I am these days.
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Funfetti cupcakes with vanilla bean frosting
On Tuesday I posted a recipe for black and white cupcakes, which were part of the dessert buffet at my sister’s baby shower. Today I bring you the other batch of cupcakes I baked: funfetti cupcakes with my ever-favorite vanilla bean frosting.
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I have some leftover vanilla bean frosting in the fridge; perhaps it’s snack time.
My sister’s favorite cake of all time is funfetti, and though I’d baked a funfetti cake for a previous birthday, I had yet to make it in cupcake form. I tried out a new funfetti recipe, and after adding some extra flour to the mix to adjust for high altitude (i.e., my first batch of cupcakes had sunken centers), I found this recipe just as yummy though a lot lighter than the first one I tried.
If a less dense, lighter cake is your thing, then you’ll love these funfetti cupcakes. If you prefer a more dense batter, check out my recipe for homemade funfetti (confetti) cake.
Printable recipe for funfetti cupcakes with vanilla bean frosting below.
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- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 6 T unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 large egg whites
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ¼ tsp almond extract
- ½ cup milk
- ¼ cup rainbow jimmies (plus more for sprinkling on frosted cupcakes)
- 3 to 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 tsp vanilla bean paste (more to taste)
- 2 T milk
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin cups with paper liners.
- In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. (Add extra flour as noted above if at a higher altitude.) Stir together until combined.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 to 5 minutes). Add egg whites and beat until combined. Add vanilla and almond extract and mix until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients in thirds alternating with the milk (i.e., ⅓ of the dry mixture followed by half the milk; repeat and end with remaining ⅓ of the dry mixture).
- Mix until just incorporated. Do NOT over mix!
- Gently fold in the jimmies by hand.
- Fill each muffin cup ⅔ full. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool 10 minutes in pan; remove to wire rack and cool completely.
- Mix sugar and butter together until creamy.
- Add vanilla bean paste and milk and continue to beat for another minute.
- If desired, add more vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract) to taste or more confectioners’ sugar until frosting reaches desired consistency.
- Frost cooled cupcakes and sprinkle with more jimmies or sprinkles of your choice.
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Black and white cupcakes
A couple weeks ago I hosted a baby shower for my baby sister (she is nine years younger than me, so I can say that). It was on a weeknight in the evening so we decided to do a dessert buffet. One of the sweet treats I made were these black and white cupcakes that used a new chocolate cupcake recipe and my favorite vanilla bean frosting recipe. The combination was delicious!
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This was the first time I used espresso powder in a chocolate cake recipe and I’m sold. It made for a deeper, richer chocolate cake…what’s not to love?
Later this week I’ll post the recipe for the homemade funfetti cupcakes and mini cookie pizzas also served at the baby shower. Also on the table that night were my now famous (or infamous due to the amount of butter) salted caramel butter bars and peanut butter swirl brownies. Mmm…
Printable recipe for black and white cupcakes below.
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- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup cocoa
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp espresso powder
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup canola oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup boiling water
- Mini chocolate chips, chocolate sprinkles or chocolate shavings (optional)
- 3 to 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 tsp vanilla bean paste (more to taste)
- 2 T milk
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners.
- In a large mixing bowl, add flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder. Whisk to combine.
- Add milk, oil, eggs and vanilla and beat on medium speed until well combined. Reduce speed and slowly add boiling water. Beat on medium-high speed for 2 minutes.
- Fill each cupcake liner ¾ full and bake 12 to 15 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove from oven. Let cool 5 minutes in pan before removing to wire rack to cool completely.
- Mix sugar and butter together until creamy.
- Add vanilla bean paste and milk and continue to beat for another minute.
- If desired, add more vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract) to taste or more confectioners’ sugar until frosting reaches desired consistency.
- Frost cooled cupcakes and sprinkle with chocolate chips.
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Breakfast with a bit of Greek Honey Crunch
Disclaimer: Mom It Forward and Honey Bunches of Oats partnered for this campaign and I’ve been compensated for my participaton. However, all thoughts, opinions and leftover cereal are mine.
I don’t buy sugar cereals unless it’s a special occasion (i.e., Papa is coming for a visit), and because my kids are kind of picky (surprise) I’ve found only a handful of cereals they’ll eat. Two of Madison’s favorites are the classic Honey Bunches of Oats and the one with almonds, so when I was asked if we wanted to taste-test the new Honey Bunches of Oats Greek Honey Crunch, I was like, “Heck, yes!”
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My expectations were high for this new Honey Bunches of Oats cereal. I expected sweet, crispy whole grain flakes and crunchy granola clusters made with real Greek yogurt.
And that’s what I got.
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I also got 33 grams of whole grains (2/3 of a day’s recommended amount) and 5 grams of protein (not super high but better than nothing). It was a bit higher on the calorie count (230 calories per serving), but I chalk that up to the granola. That’s always a calorie-buster.
I was a bit disappointed in the amount of sugar—13 grams per serving. Unless it’s a special occasion like I mentioned, I don’t buy cereals with more than 9 grams of sugar. The class Honey Bunches of Oats and the one with almonds have only 6 grams. We may stick with those even though we love the taste of the Greek Honey Crunch cereal.
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As much as I enjoyed the Greek Honey Crunch, it’s really everyone else’s opinions that matter most; they’re the main cereal eaters in the family. Lauren and Nathan had this to say about the new Honey Bunches of Oats cereal:
Lauren: “I really liked it. It tasted all bran and healthy but it was really good!”
Nathan: “First you taste the Honey Bunches of Oats, and then you taste the Greek yogurt, but it’s pretty subtle. It doesn’t taste quite as sweet as the regular Honey Bunches of Oats but rather a bit healthier.”
If you’re a fan of the Honey Bunches of Oats line and are okay with the slightly higher amount of sugar, definitely give the new Greek Honey Crunch cereal a try. You never know…it might become your new favorite breakfast!
You can keep up with the latest from Honey Bunches of Oats by following them on Twitter (@HBOats) and “liking” them on Facebook (http://facebook.com/honeybunchesofoats).
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Cowboy salsa (aka cowboy caviar)
This cowboy salsa (aka cowboy caviar) recipe needs no introduction, but if it did, this is what I would say:
It’s like crack.
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I took my friend Kim’s recipe and threw in a ripe California avocado to make it even more addictive—not that it needed any help.
You can serve this cowboy salsa with your favorite tortilla chips (our current favorites are On the Border Cantina Thins and Café Style chips) or atop pretty much anything: grilled chicken, tostadas, burritos, your fingers…
Note: This recipe makes quite a bit of cowboy salsa so plan to either serve it at a get-together or give a batch or two to neighbors. Or send a batch to me; that works too.
Printable recipe for cowboy salsa below.
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- 1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
- 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can sweet yellow & white corn, drained and rinsed
- 1 California avocado, diced
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 cup chopped red bell pepper
- ½ to 1 cup chopped green onion
- Diced jalapeno pepper to taste
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup canola oil
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- In a large bowl combine pinto beans, black-eyed peas, black beans, corn, celery, red bell pepper, green onion and jalapeno pepper. (Don’t add avocado until ready to serve.)
- In a small saucepan combine cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, sugar, oil, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and boil until sugar dissolves. Let cool.
- Pour over ingredients in bowl and toss to coat. Refrigerate overnight.
- Add avocado just before serving and toss to coat evenly.
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Join I Wash…You Dry and Southern Fairytale for the California Avocado Cinco de Mayo Recipe Fiesta sponsored by the California Avocado Commission.
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10 Simple Truths All Children Should Know
And by “all children” I mean “my children.” Of course, it might be good for your kids to learn these as well so I’ve made this Mother’s Day infographic printable if you so desire. Think of it as a cheat sheet to help make every day Mother’s Day.
Hahahahaha…”make every day Mother’s Day.” I nearly died laughing when I typed that.
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To download the Mother’s Day printable infographic, click on the image and save the file to your desktop. But before you do, please read the following rules:
- ITRML printables are for personal use only.
- If you decide to re-post or use the image on your blog or website, you MUST cite the source and include a link to this post.
- Personalization and other customizations are not available on free printables; they are offered “as-is.”
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What simple truths do you wish your children knew?
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You can read more about the inspiration for this site 
